Neopia Aginst Lupes
by PooglesBiggestFan
Summary: NAL, what can I say, it's still a work in progress, but I should be able to put up a few chapters. It's kinda a post-apocolicptical version of Neopia, where all of Neopia hates Lupes, except for a few brave humans, pets, and faeries.
1. NAL part 1

"Mommy, what's a Lupe?" a young light faerie as she noticed a wanted poster. The sign was offering a reward for Lupe skins.

"Lupes are like Gelerts, only evil. They're the pets of evil Dark Faeries, and they'll attack any normal Neopian. They say that they won't hurt Dark Faeries, but will charge at anything else. Don't get near them if you see one, just walk away." her mother said as she pulled her daughter along.

"They can't be that evil, can they? I thought there were no evil neopets."

"Lupes aren't neopets, they're vicious monsters. Now stop talking about them Tanya or you'll attract attention to yourself."

"They can't be that bad…"

"Run! He's coming!" a green Lupe yelled. He was quickly grabbed by a giant machine run by a red Wocky.

"Prince! Prince where are you?" a blue Lupe yelled, looking around in panic. "Prince! If you can hear me, run away!"

"He's gone, don't worry about him!" a red Lupe yelled. A spotlight came out of the machine, and the blue Lupe was caught in it. The red one was right in front of it. They were both quickly grabbed up by the machine.

"Rex, if you want to find other Lupes, you'll have to leave the area, you're the only one!" a little Dark Faerie yelled to a Christmas Lupe.

"I guess you're right. I wonder if I'll ever find another Lupe." he sighed.

"You can't be the only one! Even if most Faeries and humans have hunted them almost to extinction, there has to be a few more somewhere in Neopia!"

"I think it's time to head out on my own. Thanks for everything." the Lupe hugged the Dark Faerie. "Bye."

"Why have the Faeries and humans suddenly started hunting Lupes? I mean, we haven't done anything different recently." the Ghost Lupe thought on the beach of Mystery Island. He had turned himself invisible and was watching an Air Faerie put a curse on a green Lupe. He turned into a Mootix and the Faerie flicked him into the water. "That's it, there has to be a way we can stop this, I feel bad for the other Lupes!"

"I wonder if there's another Lupe out there, all I've seen are Kacheeks for the past week! Maybe I'm in a town with all Kacheek owners." Tala the Starry Lupe thought one night under the stars. She was a lone Lupe and she'd never seen another Lupe.

"Santa(pronounced san-ta, like San in Princess Mononoke)! Get me a book about Dark Faeries from Fayora's library!" Judorah yelled to her Lupe. Only Dark Faeries still kept Lupes as a pet, the rest of Neopia thought they were evil, but only Dark Faeries knew the truth. They'd never forgotten that Lupes used to stand alongside humans and other pets, but now since Lupes were outcasts, they accepted them as pets. And most Lupes, knowing nothing better to do, were their pets. If they went into a town or around pets and humans and they'd be attacked. Either thrown out or killed. Only a few Lupes knew that they used to live in peace with other pets and humans.

"But, Fyora's Library? That's like impossible to get anything from there!" Santa the red Lupe whined.

"I don't care! Just get it to me!"

"Fine." Santa ran out and stole the book. "There." she panted. She half cried from pain. Her back paw was burned badly.

"Oh you wimp! If you need fire resistance all you need to do is ask!" she yelled to her Lupe and put a spell on her. Santa was suddenly a fire Lupe and felt strangely stronger. Her back paw wasn't hurting anymore. She also had on one of Judorah's necklaces.

"Uh, thanks." she said awkwardly.

"Now don't whine whenever I send you out into fire anymore."

Kbai sat on his favorite rock, looking down to his packs' territory. He was a beautiful white Lupe who used to be the beta to a huge pack. Now, a group of Humans and Gelerts had hunted their pack entirely to extinction and they had just killed the alpha male, so now Kbai was the last surviving member of his pack. He sighed, and left the rock, never to return. He kept heading on until he entered a town where he was viciously attacked by the same group of Gelerts and Humans that had killed the rest of his pack. He fought them off but in the process, he was badly hurt. He had deep cuts all over his backside and he couldn't touch his back paw to the ground without limping. He walked on, still searching for anymore Lupe packs that had survived human attack. He kept on going, not sure exactly what was driving him, until he was attacked again. This time by a little Uni baby. All she had to do was stab at him with her horn and he fell to the ground, half dead with all of his blood loss.

"Hey, are you alright?" a little pink Kacheek was standing over Kbai when he woke up.

"Where am I? Who are you? And why on Neopia are you not attacking me like the rest of your murderous people?" he stammered, noticing he was in a neohome.

"You're in my room, I'm Heart, and it's a long story why I'm not attacking you."

"I've got all the time in the world to hear it."

"When I was little, my mom took me out to a bookstore and bought me a book on the History of Neopia. I read it and in the section about Lupes, it said that Lupes aren't actually dangerous or evil, just most of Neopia didn't know that. It said that Lupes used to live with the rest of Neopia without a care. But then, for some reason, people and faeries and Neopets started to lose their trust in Lupes, and it didn't say why. I never could figure out why, and it never said, so I'm trying to find out why people started to think that Lupes were evil. I was hoping a Lupe like yourself would know."

"Sorry, I don't have a clue. I didn't even know that Lupes used to live peacefully with humans."

"Oh, maybe I can find out in Faerie Land. I heard that Fyora's library has every book ever made. It's also said to have a complete history of Neopia. I might find what I'm looking for there. Make yourself at home. It's all yours when I leave, I don't have any friends or family left."

"Wait, you're just a little Kacheek, what's to keep hungry Gelerts from eating you?"

"My wits."

"Don't you want a guardian Lupe with you?"

"I'd love it!" Heart laughed as she hugged Kbai.

"I'd like to know that too. Also, I'm not one to say no to an adventure. My name's Kbai by the way."

Heart smiled and after Kbai healed, they set out on their journey.

Kaisa was weak. Not in strength, for she'd been the most powerful Lupe in the world for a time, but in everything else. She hadn't eaten in days, hadn't had clean water to drink in almost a week and had been attacked by a pack of Gelerts. She had no idea what kept going onward. She had no friends. All her family was killed by Wockys. She didn't know a single soul. She was barely able to walk, yet she kept on going. She was a beautiful Yellow Lupess.

With terrible timing, the Shadow Usul lunged out at her. There was nothing she could do to help herself, she didn't have strength enough to run away or attack, so she just ignored her to the best of her ability and kept on walking. The Usul, sensing her weakness, started her attacks. After just one successful slash of her sword, Kaisa was lying on the ground, nothing left to do but to be another victim of the Shadow Usul.

"Hey! Leave her alone you big bully!" a Starry Shoyru yelled at the Usul, jumping between her and Kaisa. She fought with the Usul, careful to keep her away from Kaisa. Just at the right moment, she grabbed Kaisa and flew away.

"Mom! That stupid Shadow Usul was after this Neopet! She doesn't look too good, can you come here and help her?" the Shoyru yelled to her owner as she brought Kaisa into the neohome.

"Sure, what neopet is it?"

"Don't know. I don't think I've ever seen one of this species before." as the Shoyru shrugged, her owner entered and let out a small gasp.

"That's a Lupe." she said surprised with much stammering.

"But I thought they were evil minions bent on destroying all Neopia?"

"No, I never thought I'd see another one, we'd better work fast. They're almost extinct, she's probably one of the last ones!" The Shoyru and her owner quickly healed Kaisa and gave her food, water and a soft bed to rest on.

"Where am I? What's going on?" Kaisa asked half awake.

"You're in our neohome. I found you being attacked by the Shadow Usul and stopped her. I'm Stars and this is my owner Sam."

"A human who doesn't fear Lupes. I can see it in your eyes. Why do you not follow your friends and fear me too?"

"I'm not one for following crowds. Also, I, unlike many of the other humans, remember the day when Lupes were no different from other Neopets." Sam smiled.

Stars and Kaisa quickly became best friends and Sam adopted Kaisa, though she had to hide her if anyone came to visit. For a time, Kaisa had a peaceful life. But it was never to last.


	2. NAL part 2

Tanya was walking home from a friends house, and she passed a little alleyway she usually passed. It was almost empty but there was a mutant Lupe in there. He had chased away the scavenger Lennys that were attempting to grab the big chunk of meat in the garbage. Tanya saw the Lupe and stopped dead in her tracks. The mutant Lupe noticed her and growled.

"Are you a, a, Lupe?" Tanya whispered timidly.

"Yeah, so? Are you now gonna call your little Faerie friends and ask them to kill me too?" he growled threateningly.

"No, I don't think you're evil." she stammered. The mutant Lupe kept growling but didn't snap at her as she reached out her hand to pet him. She closed her eyes as she slowly lowered her hand to pet him, ready for him to bite her hand. Her hand touched soft fur. She petted the Lupe and scratched him behind his ears. He growled.

"You don't like that?" she jumped back, scared that he would bite her.

"No, I was growling out of pleasure. I love being scratched behind the ears." he reassured in a calming voice.

Tanya returned to her scratching and the Lupe kept on growling. "Lupes aren't evil, right?"

"No neopet is pure evil. It's just the other Neopians think that we're more evil than them." the Lupe explained.

"I'm Tanya, what's your name?"

"Prince, I'm the son of the two leaders of my pack, they were killed by a Wocky hired by the Faeries. Now, the only thing I have left to do is to find the Ice Lupe goddess and attempt to return Lupe's rightful name."

"You mean, people didn't use to hate Lupes?"

"Yeah, my grandpa told me, before he died."

"Where is this Ice Lupe Goddess?"

"She's said to stay hidden on Terror Mountain, hiding from the rest of Neopia, so that no one will attack or harm her."

"If she's a goddess, isn't she immortal?"

"No, she's just extremely strong and tough. She gets her power off how many Lupes have experienced love in any way. Family or romantic, it all powers her. Any Lupe that is loved or loves someone powers her and gives her strength. Back when Lupes were like normal Neopets, she was one of the strongest creatures in Neopia. She was supposed to be more powerful than Fyora back then. But she always was quiet and usually avoided the remainder of Neopia."

"Wow, hey, can I come with you?"

"I, guess." he trailed off.

"Really! I'll be right back." she rushed off. A few minutes later she was back with Prince.

"Won't your family and friends miss you?"

"I just told my mom that I'm going out with a friend on a trip."

"Whatever. On to Terror Mountain." he sighed.

Rex the Christmas Lupe had been traveling for a few months. He still had yet to see another Lupe. He was starting to miss his dark Faerie owner. How they had used to rake leaves in the fall and how he's jump on her pile and make a mess so she had to do it all again. She'd yell at him and threaten to put a curse on him but he knew better than to think that she would actually carry it out. She was Neopia's nicest and kindest Dark Faerie. She knew that Lupes weren't evil like most dark Faeries. She lived with Rex and the two of them had made an excellent family. Rex was shunned from the rest of the world because he was a Lupe and she was shunned by all the other dark Faeries because she was nice, and the other Faeries because she was a dark Faerie. The two of them were a perfect pair. But no more. Rex had to find other Lupes and she had to keep the house from being broken into or something like that. Rex sighed. "Those were the days."

The Ghost Lupe now had been traveling day and night, looking for other creatures who wouldn't just run away from him as he asked them why Neopia hated Lupes suddenly. He eventually came across the Shadow Usul. "Do _you_ know why Neopia suddenly hates Lupes?"

"No, but I ran into a Lupe a few weeks back. I almost had her but a stupid Shoyru got in my way and I lost track of her."

"Where was that?"

"A few miles south of here. And the Shoyru flew east from there."

"Thanks." he smiled as he headed off that way.

"What was that!" a red Kacheek yelped as a starry creature flew behind her. "There it is again!" she yelled. Suddenly a starry Lupe jumped out of the shadows and lunged at the Kacheek. She ran and scratched a nice kick on the Lupe's nose who was sent yelping in pain.

"What are you?" she asked, cautiously approaching the Lupe.

"I'm a Lupe of course." Tala growled, rubbing her nose in pain.

"But if you're a Lupe, you must be evil!" the Kacheek yelled.

"I don't think I'm evil," Tala trailed off.

"You mean you weren't just attempting to murder me for no good reason?"

"No, I'm hungry, so I was going to eat you."

"I'm Ruby."

"Tala, nice to meet you. Not many pets just shake my paw after I try to eat them." Tala said as she shook Ruby's paw politely.

"So, wanna go get some Neocolas?"

"Sure!" and the two became the best friends the world had ever seen.

Every time Santa tried to run away from Judorah, somehow Judorah was able to find her. Santa could never figure it out. She never left any clues as to where she was going and she always went to a new place so Judorah didn't just go to the same place every time she ran away. Eventually Santa figured it out.

"It's this stupid collar! She must be using it to see what I see. That's how she can always find me!" Santa yelled as she ripped off the collar and threw it into the ocean. She then ran in the opposite direction that she'd thrown it. If Judorah was gonna track her down again, she was determined to make it a challenge. Thankfully, because of her resistance to fire, she could just run through the Lost Desert, completely un-bothered by the heat.

"Hey Heart, how are we supposed to get up there?" Kbai asked his friend. The two of them, on their quest to Fyora's Library, had swum across the ocean and were directly under Faerie land. Heart was on Kbai's back, considering that he was a better swimmer.

"Uh, I have no clue. I wasn't ready for this part." Heart sounded confused.

"Well we can't just go ask someone to fly us up there. If it's a regular pet they'll attack me, and if it's a dark Faerie, they'll probably ask for something in return."

"Do we have anything to give them, considering they're our only option?"

"I lost everything when my pack was killed."

"I don't have anything either. My old owner never left me anything, just the neohome and some furniture that was too big to take across the ocean."

"Well, we could stop a dark Faerie and ask if we have anything she'd want."

The two waited until they could stop a passing dark Faerie.

"Well, if you want a lift you'll have to give me something you have in return."

"We don't have anything except ourselves." Heart explained.

"Um, I do need a Lupe fang for a potion." she thought. Heart gave a stern look at Kbai.

"Don't do it Kbai, even if we need to get up there, we'll need your fangs to fend off any Gelerts or other pets." Heart whined.

"What choice do we have?" Kbai snapped. "Fine, but only one."

The Dark Faerie used her magic to fly them up to the city and painlessly remove Kbai's left fang. "Thanks!"

Kbai wasn't too thrilled with losing his tooth but he just sighed. After the dark Faerie flew away, Kbai and Heart entered the Faerie city.

Kaisa had been living with Sam and Stars for a few months and they had become a close family. Kaisa had been painted Silver and was one of the most beautiful Lupes ever. One day, Sam and Stars were out shopping and naturally Kaisa had to stay home. Sam and Stars came across the Shadow Usul, who still remembered Stars.

After a few hours, when Sam and Stars were supposed to be home, Kaisa went out looking for them. Somehow, the Shadow Usul had turned Stars into a gold charm, and Sam was no where to be seen. Kaisa, finding her sister turned into a charm and her owner probably dead, grabbed the string attached to the charm and headed out. The only way to heal Stars and find what happened to Sam was to go to Illusen and convince her to help. This would be a challenge considering that Lupes were supposed to be dark Faerie's pets, and with her rivalry with Judorah, she'd rather kill Kaisa than help her. She headed out to Meridell.


	3. NAL part 3

Tanya and Prince were hot on the trail to Terror Mountain. They had been traveling for a while and were now passing through some thick woods. "So, this Ice Lupe Goddess, she's supposed to gain power whenever Lupes are loved or love someone?"

"Yeah." Prince nodded, pushing back a low hanging branch.

"Then, she must be pretty weak right now."

"I think she's turned back into a mortal. She'll stay a mortal until a Lupe is loved or gives love. I think there was a shorter name for how she gets her power, what was it, islove? Yeah, islove, I remember now."

"So, will she return to an immortal once she has more power?"

"Probably. She just needs one Lupe's islove to become a goddess again."

"Well if that's the case, wouldn't there be at least one Lupe out there that is still loved?"

"Maybe not, all the Lupe packs are dead, every single one of them. I was the future alpha of the last one."

"Do all Lupes look exactly like you, I mean, with the skull. Are you a blue Lupe?"

"No, I'm a mutant Lupe, which makes people more scared of me than a regular Lupe."

"But I wasn't scared of you."

"Yeah you were, did you see how far you jumped back when I had that pleasure growl, you almost fell into that trash can!" he laughed. Tanya just gave him a stern look. They kept on tramping through the forest and found the beach.

Rex had finally found the scent of another Lupe, but it was different that what he had expected. He didn't care though, another Lupe was all he wanted to see. He was now in the haunted woods. He thought he heard a rustling sound in a nearby bush and quickened his pace. Suddenly, in his rush to run away from his own imagination, he ran into a cave. "Great, just great. I run away from my own overactive imagination and end up in a pitch black cave. Rex, you are such an idiot." he yelled at himself.

"I don't think your imagination's that overactive." a ghostly voice resounded from behind Rex. The Christmas Lupe spun around to face the pet, human or faerie who had seen him, fully prepared that he was about to be attacked. He let out a loud growl. "Hey, I don't wanna fight." Rex didn't let up the growl.

"Why did you follow me, and why were you hiding if you're not scared of Lupes? Show yourself!"

"As you wish." the Ghost Lupe suddenly appeared. "I was following you, hoping that you'd know why humans suddenly started hating Lupes. I'm guessing you don't know either?"

"Humans used to not hate Lupes? I didn't know that. What are you exactly, you're not a Lupe, are you?"

"Yeah humans used to live peacefully with Lupes, but something happened recently to get them to hate each other. When I say recently, I mean recently for me, you were probably not even born yet. And as for what I am, I'm the ghost Lupe. I used to be a Lupe, back when humans and faeries used to write stories about how Lupes were loyal."

"I'm trying to find other Lupes, just to see what they look like, the only Lupe I remember seeing is myself in a mirror."

"And now me. I ran into the shadow Usul a while back," at this point Rex gasped, not many pets, Lupes or normal pets, would run into the shadow Usul and act like it was a nothing. "and she said she saw another Lupe back that way, a good 100 miles now."

"Thanks, good luck!" Rex waved. The ghost Lupe waved and bid Rex good luck too.

_Back in the days when Lupes were trusted, hardly a pet wouldn't fear me, Lupe or not a Lupe, they all ran screaming. I guess things really have changed, for Neopia, and me. _The ghost Lupe sighed and kept on walking, headed up to see an old friend in the endless Plains.

Tala and Ruby now were the best of friends and they lived in Ruby's neohome with her baby sister Sapphire (who was a blue Kacheek). Since Tala couldn't walk out into broad daylight, Ruby was the only one who left the neohome, so Tala babysat Sapphire a lot. Sapphire, being so young, accepted Tala as a regular pet, and they got along fine. Unbeknownst to Tala, every time Ruby left the neohome for school, she'd ask her classmates about their opinions on Lupes.

"Geeze Ruby, you're sounding downright obsessed! Why on Neopia do you keep asking about Lupes? We already said we think they're evil." December, a Christmas Kacheek stated after Ruby asked her daily question again.

"This is sounding pretty weird, especially because Lupes are almost extinct. Did you run into one or something?" Febuary a pink Kacheek asked.

Ruby opened her mouth to tell them about Tala, but thought better of it. _What if they still don't believe me that she's not evil and they tell someone? Then Tala could be in danger. _"Yeah, I did a little while back." The other Kacheeks gasped. "It was huge, but I didn't get close enough to see it closely, I just walked away from it. I don't think it even noticed me."

"Where was it?" January pelted down her question like sleet.

"When did you see it?" March asked her question more like snow falling.

"Was anyone with you at the time, like us?" July asked, her eyes wide open.

"Nah, I was alone, and it was a few weeks ago. I saw it down that alley near school. But like I said, I just kept walking and it didn't notice me."

"Do you think we should tell someone? What if it's still lose?" April asked with her silky soft voice.

"Nah, if it is, the closest person I know who lives around here would be my math teacher!" June joked.

_Well that really worked out well. I'm just hoping no one has to come over to my house for a while, or Tala's in trouble._ Ruby sighed. She said bye to her friends and returned to her sister and best friend who were waiting for her in the living room.

"Well, now that I've made it through the Lost Desert without a sign of Lupes," Santa thought. She stopped short when she saw a giant shrine smashed in half. On closer inspection, it had pictures on it of an old, wise looking Desert Lupe, only he looked different from most Desert Lupes. "Who's that?" she thought.

"Amazed by the ruins of King Coltzan's shrine?" a sly voice sounded behind Santa, who instinctively spun around, ready to defend herself from whatever it was behind her.

"Show yourself! Who's there?" Santa growled.

"Are you going to attack me?" a Desert Aisha snickered as she appeared out of a cloud of dust. "This was once the shrine of a well liked King, but he was murdered, and when humans started hating Lupes, this was the first Lupe target to take down." she half sighed, as if she missed it.

"Why? You mean, humans haven't always hated Lupes?"

"Some of them still don't."

"How do you know all this?" Santa started to relax, seeing that this Aisha wasn't going to attack, just freak the heck out of her.

"I am the sands of time. I control the days, the years, the millenniums, and what happens in them. I can slow down time, or I can speed it up, but none of this amuses me anymore." The Aisha looked off in the distance, as if the sand dunes were more interesting than the ruins and the Lupe.

"How can you not be fascinated by time control? That's something even Judorah can't figure out."

"One can only control time by controlling me, and as I am immortal, this cannot be done. Judorah wants to use me in order to rule different portions of Neopia, and she used to send people on quests to obtain items for her spells, all of them were in vain. None of her spells or potions ever managed to subdue me, and I still reign supreme. However, I have become bored with my time control, and I think you'll do nice as something to amuse me."

"Wait a second, what do you intend to do with me? I'm not your toy!" Santa growled.

"You misunderstand me! I merely wish for something to do, and by assisting you, or thwarting you, whichever I choose, gives me pleasure. Tell me Lupe, what is your name, and what is your quest?"

"I'm Santa, and I'm, not sure what I'm here to do. All I know is that I want to keep away from faeries."

"Ah, you have no quest. This makes things more interesting. What is your deepest desire, I can help you fulfill it."

"Well," Santa had to think on this, she had nothing better to do than to team up with this Aisha, as crazy as she was, thinking she was time. "I guess that I'd want to try out the other lifestyles for a Lupe to have during this time period."

"Ah, an adventurer, looking for a home. That is something! Come, I can help you find a home if that is what you want."

"Why are you helping me, what's in it for you?"

"I already told you, I merely wish to be entertained." Suddenly, the whole world became dark to Santa, she was falling through a sea of darkness, she tried to run, swim, climb, anything to keep from falling, but it was useless, and then she landed on something soft.

"Well, there's Fyora's library, what do we do now?" Heart sighed. Kbai and her had finally found the illusive library that would tell them why Lupes were hated, but unfortunately, the door was guarded by two Light faeries.

"We should probably distract the two guards when we know Fyora isn't in there. Then we can grab the book and run, then chuck it back at the door when we're done." Kbai offered. He didn't want to steal, just borrow.

"Or, mister thief, we could just ask politely to borrow the book from Fyora herself." Heart giggled. Kbai shrugged and the decided to try Heart's plan first.

"That really worked." Kbai snickered when Heart was thrown out on her little Kacheek butt for asking for one of Fyora's books. "Ready to try my plan?"

"Fine, but for the record, I'm not exactly what you'd call 'thief materiel'. I'm not stealthy or quiet, so I'll probably get us caught." Heart sighed.

"You know what, just ride on my back, and I can go in, get it, and get out, without being spotted. For the record, Lupes are the definition of stealthy." Kbai sneered.

Kaisa was still going, with the little Starry Shoyru charm that was Stars, and was now in the middle of a deep Forest that would lead to Meridell. She was lucky enough to find a dirt path that led through the forest.

"YOU!" a voice boomed from everywhere at once.

"What the heck!" Kaisa jumped and growled at her attacker, though because she couldn't see them, she was especially defensive.

"You were the one! The one who ruined my life!"

"But I don't even know you, whoever you are, what did I do to you!" Kaisa asked in more surprise.

"Why in Fyora's name did you think you could house a Lupe without my knowing?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" a voice yelled, this one seemed to come from a specific point, as if it was a living being, the other voice sounded like a god or something. The main difference was that this voice sounded scared.

"No you're not!" By this time, it had dawned on Kaisa that she was not being addressed.

"She was hurt, you didn't need to kill her! She didn't do anything to you! Why did you hate her so much?"

"She was a Lupe, and you know better than anyone that all Lupes are evil! Wasn't it them who killed your parents? And who protected you from them all these years?"

"I'm sorry master, but it wasn't this one who did it, she was innocent!" Suddenly, a young red Zafara fell out of a bush into a clearing near Kaisa, who immediately ducked safely out of sight into a bush.

"None are innocent, isn't that what I taught you a long time ago?" the voice boomed as the person owning it flew out into a clearing. Kaisa gasped as Illusen appeared above the trees in the clearing. The little Zafara fell down and cried into the dirt.

"Please master, please forgive me!" she begged.

Illusen sighed in frustration. "Fine, but I want you to return to your house, and never to deal with those things again. I'm doing this for your own protection, she was going to attack you."

"Yes master." the Zafara bowed and quickly ran out of the clearing. Kaisa gulped, she had to go to Illusen to save Sam and Stars, and she was up against one of the strongest haters of Lupes in all of Neopia. She was doomed.


	4. NAL part 4

"The beach! We're only a little ways off from Terror Mountain!" Tanya laughed as she and Prince finally found the way out of the forest.

"Hey, there's an Island over there, we can swim over to there and take a brake before making the final swim to Terror Mountain."

"Good idea, only, I'll fly!" Tanya giggled. "I would offer to carry you, but I'm not strong enough."

"It's OK, I could use the workout anyway." Prince laughed as he hopped in the water, headed for the little Island. When they finally got there, they found an interesting welcoming comity.

"Hey, another Lupe!" the Skunk Lupe laughed as he tackled Prince. Prince was less than thrilled than to be thrown to the ground after a long exerting swim.

"Hey, you leave him alone!" Tanya yelled thinking that the Skunk Lupe was attacking her new friend. She started making a ball of light energy to throw at him, but he jumped off Prince and ran yelping away, something about how the Mutant Lupe should run too.

"Tanya, it's OK." Prince yelped before she tried to blow the poor Lupe's head off. "He's just happy to see me. It's OK!"

"But, a light Faerie, they're the most vicious Faeries to us Lupes!" the Skunk Lupe yelped from behind a bush in a little jungle of sorts.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were attacking Prince. You can come out, I like Lupes."

"What!" the Skunk Lupe seemed puzzeled but he slowly came out of the bush. "How could a Light Faerie like Lupes?"

"I guess I was never taught to hate you guys. This is Prince, and I'm Tanya."

"I'm Stripes by the way. I'm attempting to make a pack here."

"That's a big goal." Prince interjected. "I was the future alpha of one of the last packs out there, and everyone in it, except for me was killed by a Wocky. I only survived because I had left the pack to go on a solo hunt for a midnight snack. There was one other pack around the time of mine, but I think they were all killed too. It'll be hard for you to find enough Lupes to make a pack, or a mate."

"Where are you off to?" Stripes asked politely with a nod.

"We're headed to Terror Mountain." Tanya smiled brightly.

"Good luck with that!" Stripes waved them goodbye as they swam and flew off to the base of Terror Mountain.

"Who are you?" Rex yelled as he finally found another Lupe. But she was different from most Lupes. Rex had never seen any pet ever like her, and she looked so different from him that he wasn't even sure she was a Lupe.

"I am the Lupe Princess, and you are Rex, the Christmas Lupe, you seek other Lupes, and I have been following you."

"Why? How do you know who I am?"

"You silly pup! I am all knowing! I have come here to give you a gift that will enable you to do whatever you wish, without a time limit."

"Why would you help me?"

"Simple really, I am interested to see what you will do with this gift. I have only given it to one other, and if you find him, you should understand why I give you this!" she yelled. Rex felt great pain and howled as loud as he could, and the Princess laughed and vanished in a puff of smoke. Rex fell to the ground, wondering what had happened, he felt different. While he was pondering what gift the princess had given him, he got up off the ground, and discovered his new power.

"NO!"

"Miss Vira, I have come to ask you of your knowledge on a certain subject." the Ghost Lupe bowed as he entered Vira's little meadow of cursed flowers.

"Who's there? How dare you enter my meadow!" Vira looked up from poisoning a rose. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you, I thought you were that stupid baby Uni that's been pestering me for a while. Yes, what is it you need information on?"

"I came here to ask you if you know why Lupes are hated nowadays. I presume you know something, as I know that you are as beautiful as you are intelligent." he bowed politely to the Acara.

"I apologize, but I only know that it was because of one of those Faeries, I'm pretty sure it was Judorah who caused Neopia to hate Lupes. This isn't exactly my business, so I pretty kept my nose out of it." she shrugged.

"You're right, thanks for your help." he bowed again. In his time, one was always expected to be extra polite to the beautiful women, something that hadn't changed with him over time. "I have someone else to ask for information, I'll head over to him now. Thanks again."

"Good luck on your search." Vira added, returning to her poisoned Rose.

"Hey Ruby, welcome home!" Tala greeted Ruby at her usual return from school. After a little hug on the doorstep, a risk the two had recently been taking a lot, Ruby had a proposal.

"Wanna go get some ice cream?"

"What? But what if someone sees me?"

"Simple, I got a Gelert costume recently, and I think that if you put it on, you'd look pretty convincing. How about it?"

"Sure, let me try it on first!" Tala raced off with the costume and returned looking very much like a Gelert. "How do I look?"

"Like a Gelert, you look positively normal! Let's go!" And the two friends headed out to get ice cream.

"What flavor do you want Tala?" Ruby asked at the ice cream stand.

"I'll have chocolate." Tala stated from behind Ruby. She was still nervous, even with the costume. She knew that she was less aggressive and calmer now that she was friends with Ruby. She assumed that Ruby had tamed her for society, but she knew better than anyone that she'd never be accepted by anyone other than Ruby and Sapphire.

"Strawberry please!" Ruby politely asked. The two returned home with a mint ice cream for Sapphire. "See, no one saw you!"

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll risk it again, that was pretty close, and I'm not sure a costume can fool the stand owner for long."

"You're right, but once it should work fine! And you can go out on Halloween, saying you're dressed up as a Lupe!" the two laughed.

"Oh, where am I?" Santa slowly rose to her feet. For a moment, she forgot where she was. "Why?"

"Come closer." the Desert Aisha was sitting a ways off, looking into what appeared to be a crystal ball. They were in a dark pit of some kind, with no windows, and what made Santa worried, no doors. The crystal ball seemed to be the only source of light. Santa slowly walked up to the Aisha. "Look into my ball, I can show you all the other Lupes in Neopia."

"That could take a while." Santa politely stated.

The Aisha laughed. "Not as long as you might think, there are only a few others. Now let's see, here's a Lupe, what do you think of his life?" Santa looked into the ball and saw a Mutant Lupe and a Light faerie swimming and flying over and through the ocean. "They're on an exciting quest, would you like a life of excitement and danger, where there's always something new and interesting around the corner?"

"No thanks, I'd prefer not to be risking my neck every few minutes."

"Ah, a tricky one to please. What about this Lupe?" Santa looked in the ball again and this time, saw a totally different scene, with a white Lupe and a pink Kacheek, getting ready to brake into a building of some kind.

"I'll pass on being a thief Madam." Santa stated politely.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to really work to top those two lifestyles!" the Aisha laughed.

"You! Why on Neopia are you trying to brake into Fyora's library?" a dark faerie asked of Heart and Kbai as they snuck around the library.

"Look, we…" Heart started.

"Shut up Kacheek, I was asking the Lupe!" the dark faerie snapped.

Kbai growled. "We're trying to find out some information, and this is the only place to find it out, now will you let us go?"

"Possibly, or I could just put a curse on you! I haven't practiced my voodoo talents in a while, it always works best on Kacheeks." she grinned maliciously and plucked a fur off Heart's head.

"Leave her out of this, what do you want?"

"I already told you, I need to practice my voodoo talents, and I'll use the Kacheek. You may leave Lupe, and take the Kacheek with you!"

"Look, we've come this far, and given up Kbai's left fang, all because we want to learn why Lupes are hated. You're not about to stop us now, not after all we've done." Heart yelled in a moment of courage.

"What did you say!"

"You heard her!" Kbai stepped in front of Heart, her tiny courage giving in on her. "We want to know why Lupes are hated."

"You, want to, really?" the dark faerie stammered. "I wish you luck. May you succeed in your mission." she nodded and walked off, discarding Heart's fur.

"Why did she not want to stop us?" Heart asked.

"I don't know, but we'd better keep an eye out, I'm not sure if dark faeries want to help us or not. I wonder if life in Neopia ever made sense." Kbai sighed.

"Meridell, I've finally made it. Looks like I'd better travel during nighttime, it's pretty busy now!" Kaisa thought to herself as she entered Meridell at about noon. She knew it would be dangerous in Meridell more so than any other place because it was Illusen's home. She now knew the full extent of Illusen's wrath.

"Are you lost? You shouldn't be here, Meridell's not safe for Lupes." Kaisa jumped as she heard the voice. There was the little red Zafara she'd seen in the forest. "Lady Illusen's the one in charge of Meridell since the death of the kings. Do you need a place to hide? I live in the forest near Illusen's glade."

"Thanks." Kaisa followed her, but cautiously. The Zafara didn't know that Kaisa knew about the other Lupe she'd housed. Kaisa spent the night with the Zafara and the next morning, she was ready to face Illusen. She gulped as she hid in the bush by a clearing, where Illusen the earth faerie sat.


End file.
